Pakistani Woman Spends 4 Years In Bagram As Prisoner 650

Pakistani woman spends 4 years in Bagram as Prisoner 650Tehran Times Poltical Desk

TEHRAN -- British journalist Yvonne Ridley flew to Pakistan on a whirlwind trip this week to highlight the plight of a woman who has been held in U.S. custody for more than four years.

She referred to the woman, known only by her prisoner number 650, as The Grey Lady of Bagram.

More than 100 journalists attended the press conference hosted by Pakistan political leader Imran Khan who pledged his full support to Ridley’s mission, which is part of a Cage Prisoner Campaign to help the female detainee.

A statement of support from British MP and RESPECT Party leader George Galloway was also read out during the conference.

Details of Prisoner 650 are being kept secret by the U.S. military.

On Monday night she said: “I think everyone was shocked to hear that the Americans were holding this woman at Bagram in Afghanistan. From the information coming through I am told she is being held in exactly the same conditions as the men and has absolutely no privacy when it comes to toilet and shower facilities.

“This would never happen to a Western woman and it shows just how women are viewed by the U.S. military. There is even a suggestion she has been molested and sexually abused by her captors. We need to demand the truth,” added Ridley who was held captive herself in Afghanistan for 11 days in September 2001.

“I was released on humanitarian grounds. Mercifully my treatment was good, respectful and decent, although still terrifying,” she added.

Ridley, also a patron of the organization Cage Prisoner, revealed how she first read about the woman in a book written by ex-Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg called Enemy Combatant.

“I remembered Moazzam telling me about the woman’s screams and how he first imagined they could be from his wife. In truth, I thought maybe he had just been listening to a tape recorder as part of a form of mental torture.

“However, we now know the screams came from a woman who has been held in Bagram for some years. And without compromising anyone, we can also reveal from impeccable sources that her prison number is 650.

“This information has been enough to scramble the Pakistan media into action by demanding the return of this woman to her homeland immediately,” added Ridley.

Joining her at the open air press conference in Islamabad at the headquarters of Khan’s PTI party was Saghir Hussain, a lawyer and member of Cage.

He handed over a dossier prepared by Cage which reveals the full extent of the Disappeared from Pakistan… individuals who have been literally kidnapped from the streets.

“Prisoner 650 is just the tip of a very nasty iceberg of human rights abuses, illegal detentions and rendition flights. It is a shameful episode in Pakistan's history which must be put right.”

Amina Masood Janjua, chair of the Defense of Human Rights, also joined the platform along with other supporters whose husbands, sons and brothers have disappeared without trace. She thanked Cage for its dossier and the supporting work it had conducted on the Disappeared.

“I wonder how can we hand over our sister to the non-Muslims for their illegal trial by men whose history is full of rape and other abuses to prisoners,” the Pakistani daily Dawn quoted Ridley as saying.

Ms. Ridley read the text from the book’s section covering Mr. Begg’s stay in Bagram: “I began to hear the chilling screams of a woman next door… Why have you got a woman next door? They told me there was no woman. But I was unconvinced. Those screams echoed through my worst nightmares for a long time. And I later learned in Guantanamo, from other prisoners, that they had heard the screams too.”

She said the account had been corroborated by four Arabs who had escaped from Bagram in July 2005. “While on the run, one not only confirmed he had heard a woman’s screams, but said he had seen her.”

Ms. Ridley said, “My story made international headlines, front page pictures and major stories on TV. But there has not been one word, not one paragraph about Prisoner 650 -- the ‘grey lady’ of Bagram, a murderous detention facility under control of the U.S. military and intelligence services.”

She urged every Pakistani to ring America, and ask them who Prisoner 650 is. What was her crime? Who else was being held illegally? How many secret detention centers were there?

Ms. Ridley’s colleague Saghir Hussain gave details about other people of the country who had ‘disappeared’.

“All, like the grey lady of Bagram, have been illegally abducted by secretive intelligence agencies. They began disappearing in 2001 during the so-called war on terror,” he said.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan demanded that the government hold an investigation into the case. “What has the sovereign parliament done about the missing persons?” he asked.-

Where is Dr Afia Siddiqui? asks AHRCDr. Afia Siddiqui [Photo] left her mother’s house in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Sindh province, along with her three children, in a Metro-cab on March 30, 2003 to catch a flight for Rawalpindi, Punjab province, but never reached the airport. The press reports claimed that Dr. Afia had been picked-up by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the airport and initial reports suggested that she was handed over to the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). At the time of her arrest she was 30 years and the mother of three sons the oldest of which was four and the youngest only one month.

A few days later an American news channel, NBC, reported that Afia had been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of facilitating money transfers for terror networks of Osama Bin Laden. The mother of the victim, Mrs. Ismat (who has since passed away) termed the NBC report absurd. She went on to say that Dr. Afia is a neurological scientist and has been living with her husband, Amjad, in the USA for several years.

On April 1, 2003, a small news item was published in an Urdu daily with reference to a press conference of the then Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat. When questioned with regard to Dr. Afia’s arrest he denied that she had been arrested. This was followed by another Urdu daily article on April 2 regarding another press conference in which the same minister said Dr. Afia was connected to Al Qaeda and that she had not been arrested as she was absconding. He added: “You will be astonished to know about the activities of Dr. Afia” A Monthly English magazine of Karachi in a special coverage on Dr. Afia reported that one week after her disappearance, a plain clothed intelligence went to her mother’s house and warned her, “We know that you are connected to higher-ups but do not make an issue out of your daughter’s disappearance.” According to the report the mother was threatened her with ‘dire consequences’ if she made a fuss.

Whilst Dr. Afia’s whereabouts remain unknown, there are reports of a woman called ‘Prisoner 650′ is being detained in Afghanistan’s Bagram prison and that she has been tortured to the point where she has lost her mind. Britain’s Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 who, according to him is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at prison. Lord Nazeer has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.

Also, on July 6, 2008 a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, called for help for a Pakistani woman she believes has been held in isolation by the Americans in their Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan, for over four years. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her,” Ms Ridley said at a press conference.

Ms Ridley, who went to Pakistan to appeal for help, said the case came to her attention when she read the book, The Enemy Combatant, by a former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg. After being seized in February 2002 in Islamabad, Mr Begg was held in detention centres in Kandahar and Bagram for about a year before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay. He recounted his experiences in the book after his release in 2005. Mr. Imran Khan, leader of Justice Party (T.I) suspects that prisoner 650 is the Dr. Afia Siddiqui and USA and Pakistani authorities are hiding facts of ‘Prisoner 650′.

To date, neither the American nor the Pakistani government have come out about the arrest and detention of Dr. Afia in either Bagram or Guantanamo Bay where suspected terrorists are held. On December 30, 2003 Dr. Fawzia Siddiqui, Dr. Afia elder sister met with Mr Faisal Saleh Hayat at Islamabad with Mr Ejazul Haq, MNA, regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Afiai. Mr Faisal told Dr. Fawzia and Mr Ejazul Haq that according to his information Dr. Afia Siddiqui had already been released and that she (Dr. Fawzia) should go home and wait for a phone call from her sister.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Dr. Afia Siddiqui, who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, for about 10 years and did her PhD in genetics, returned to Pakistan in 2002. Having failed to get a suitable job, she again visited the US on a valid visa in February 2003 to search for a job and to submit an application to the US immigration authorities. She moved there freely and came back to Karachi by the end of February 2003 after renting a post office box in her name in Maryland for the receipt of her mail. It has been claimed by the FBI (Newsweek International, June 23, 2003, issue) that the box was hired for one Mr Majid Khan, an alleged member of Al Qaeda residing in Baltimore.

Throughout March 2003 flashes of the particulars of Dr. Afia were telecast with her photo on American TV channels and radios painting her as a dangerous Al Qaeda person needed by the FBI for interrogation. On learning of the FBI campaign against her she went underground in Karachi and remained so till her kidnapping. The June 23, 2003, issue of Newsweek International was exclusively devoted to Al Qaeda. The core of the issue was an article “Al Qaeda’s Network in America”. The article has three photographs of so-called Al Qaeda members - Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Dr. Afia Siddiqui and Ali S. Al Marri of Qatar who has studied in the US like Dr. Siddiqui and had long since returned to his homeland. In this article, which has been authored by eight journalists who had access to FBI records, the only charge leveled against Dr. Afia is that “she rented a post-office box to help a former resident of Baltimore named Majid Khan (alleged Al Qaeda suspect) to help establish his US identity.

WASHINGTON, Aug 3: Five years after her mysterious disappearance in Karachi, the FBI has finally conceded that an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist is alive and is in US custody in Afghanistan.

Aafia Siddiqui, 36, disappeared with her three children while visiting her parents’ home in Karachi in March 2003, around the same time the FBI announced that it wanted to question her over her alleged links to Al Qaeda.

Her family’s lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp said she believed recent media reports about Mrs Siddiqui’s incarceration increased pressure on the US and Pakistani authorities to divulge more information.

“I don’t believe that they just found Aafia,” she said. “I believe that she was there all along.”

The fate of her three young, American-born children is still unknown.

Before her disappearance, Mrs Siddiqui lived in a Boston suburb of Roxbury and studied at Brandeis University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In a 2006 report, Amnesty International listed Mrs Siddiqui as among a number of “disappeared” suspects in the war on terrorism. On July 6, 2007, AI listed Mrs Siddiqui as a possible CIA “secret detainee”, although she was still on the FBI’s Seeking Information - Terrorism list. Late last week, Mrs Siddiqui’s photo still appeared on the FBI’s list of people wanted for questioning.

Since no charges were ever filed against her, human rights groups treated her case as that of “extrajudicial detention”, although no government ever claimed detaining her.

Even the FBI does not mention any charges in the notice seeking information about her. “Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this individual,” says the notice.

The “gray lady of Bagram”: On July 7, a British journalist Yvonne Ridley told a news conference in Islamabad that a Pakistani woman had been held in solitary confinement for years at the Bagram US base near Kabul. The identity of this prisoner remains unconfirmed. She has been nicknamed the “gray lady of Bagram”. Ms Ridley, however, speculated that she was Aafia Siddiqui.

Moazzam Begg and several other former captives also have reported that a female prisoner, prisoner 650, was held in Bagram. The former captives claim that she has lost her sanity and cries all the time.

Although it is still not clear if the “gray lady of Bagram” is Aafia Siddiqui, her family’s attorney told reporters on Friday that the FBI had finally conceded that Mrs Siddiqui is in US custody.

“It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive,” said Ms Sharp, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday.

“She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.”

For five years, US and Pakistani authorities denied knowing her whereabouts. But human rights groups and Mrs Siddiqui’s relatives had long suspected that she had been captured in Karachi and secretly taken into custody.

On Thursday, an FBI official visited Mrs Siddiqui’s brother in Houston to deliver the news that she was alive and in custody, Ms Sharp said.

FBI officials, however, would not say who was holding her or reveal the fate of her children.

“If she’s in US custody, they want to know where she is,” Ms Sharp said. “Who has got her? And does she need medical care?”

The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment.

US military documents declassified in recent years suggest that Mrs Siddiqui is suspected of having ties to several key terrorism suspects being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

She is believed to have links to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and allegedly arranged travel documents for another suspected terrorist.

Papers in Guantanamo Bay also indicate that she married Ali Abd Al Aziz Ali, an alleged Al Qaeda facilitator who intended to blow up petrol stations or poison water reservoirs in the United States.

The three men were among 14 high-value suspects brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 after years of secret detention in CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.

This admission from FBI yet again highlights the ugly face of these American bastards. Even if she had links with terrorists, it is completely inhuman to treat her like this.Those agents in Pakistani agencies who are responsible for this must be hanged from their b*lls till death.

a plain clothed intelligence went to her mother’s house and warned her, “We know that you are connected to higher-ups but do not make an issue out of your daughter’s disappearance.” According to the report the mother was threatened her with ‘dire consequences’ if she made a fuss.

you know at the end of the day i dont blame CIA, or RAW or Mossad, because everyone knows that they are not friends of Pakistan . I blame those Pakistanis who are willing to kidnap their own and hand them over to the US for torturing, all in return for a few measly dollars, dollars that will repay them back in the worst possible way, as haram income always does...........

Does the plain clothed "intelligence officer" quoted above have no shame that he is threatening an aged woman ? These people are like subservient servants in front of Americans but lions in front of other Muslims and Pakistanis.
I cant help but agree with people who say that such enemies of Pakistan need to be dragged and lynched on the streets....

still there is no news about her 3 kids, who were kidnapped with her.one was few months old when they were picked up.

Salam to all,

These so called In-lightend moderate people are more Fundementals, then any one else. May Allah give her peace of mind, and i really wanted to see Aafia Back in Pakistan. Good Work Mushi keep working for America like that, but this is my prayer, that your daughter will never ever see these days , which were seen by aafia.

These so called In-lightend moderate people are more Fundementals, then any one else. May Allah give her peace of mind, and i really wanted to see Aafia Back in Pakistan. Good Work Mushi keep working for America like that, but this is my prayer, that your daughter will never ever see these days , which were seen by aafia.

Danish saleem

Agree but please dont mention Musharraf or any leaders name as that will bring over his die-hard supporters who will take the thread off to a different trajectory..........where they will conclude that its ok to hand over Pakistanis to the US as the stock market was doing great during Musharrafs time (and the latter justifies the former) ............. even though the 2 events are miles apart..

These so called In-lightend moderate people are more Fundementals, then any one else. May Allah give her peace of mind, and i really wanted to see Aafia Back in Pakistan. Good Work Mushi keep working for America like that, but this is my prayer, that your daughter will never ever see these days , which were seen by aafia.

Danish saleem

Agree but please dont mention Musharraf or any leaders name as that will bring over his die-hard supporters who will take the thread off to a different trajectory..........where they will conclude that its ok to hand over Pakistanis to the US as the stock market was doing great during Musharrafs time (and the latter justifies the former) ............. even though the 2 events are miles apart..

Firstly .. you seem to forget that major countries are handing over their nationals to USA when it comes to WOT. Whereas Pakistan was and is involved one way or another in the WOT, hence, our inclination to handover people with terrorist links to US.

If the above is not enough our own Jahil Mullahs have given official claims to WOT against USA. As if it was going to help our cause and if that was not finally enough, we don't see those supporting such events making hue & cry against USA interest but peacefully. Everytime Pakistani's want to protest against the US policies .... I see suicide bombing happening ... burning our own buses & properties ..

Than ... people like Tropicana comes out & claims otherwise .. and asks why the President did not do this & that .. as if any other Pakistani president who would be sitting in the chair would do a better job than it was being done earlier !

Why what has the present govt. done against US bullying ! (transfered ISI to another dept !) or Nawaz who is asking for free access to Indians in Pakistan !

infact, this news harms all like FBI, WOT, and ISI. somehow they have decided to wash their clothes in public right before olympics fever. Media controllers are confident that they can turn Pakistani public agains't ISI's foriegn role, by shouting about its interior role."These purisraar banday" are not angels, but it doesn't mean we blame them for the blackmailer who is getting them do the dirty job on gun point.world media is highlighting it now, jsut to target ISI. but it is good for everyone to know the truth about all of above.

anyway there are 4 days left for current media hype about ISI or poor Aafia. I wish she with her 3 kids, gets home soon, safe and alive.

on 8/8/08, Olympic torch turns on, and there we go.be ready for medals table shock this time.

Than ... people like Tropicana comes out & claims otherwise .. and asks why the President did not do this & that .. as if any other Pakistani president who would be sitting in the chair would do a better job than it was being done earlier !

I never blamed Musharraf or anyone else for the incident, if you read my post you will see that I wanted to focus on the actual kidnapping rather than blame the President, as the current leaders are much more subservient to the USA......

"These purisraar banday" are not angels, but it doesn't mean we blame them for the blackmailer who is getting them do the dirty job on gun point.world media is highlighting it now, jsut to target ISI. but it is good for everyone to know the truth about all of above.

anyway there are 4 days left for current media hype about ISI or poor Aafia. I wish she with her 3 kids, gets home soon, safe and alive.

Schmuck .. well said .. however, our role should be that we shout at the top of the voice against USA (peacefully still) and make others look at the real face of the so called self claimed champions of Human rights. Yeah .. just imagine what they claim against China !! I never blamed Musharraf or anyone else for the incident, if you read my post you will see that I wanted to focus on the actual kidnapping rather than blame the President, as the current leaders are much more subservient to the USA......

Tropicana .. now you are back tracking .. mate ..

Your earlier posts :Agree but please dont mention Musharraf or any leaders name as that will bring over his die-hard supporters who will take the thread off to a different trajectory..........where they will conclude that its ok to hand over Pakistanis to the US as the stock market was doing great during Musharrafs time (and the latter justifies the former) ............. even though the 2 events are miles apart..

you know at the end of the day i dont blame CIA, or RAW or Mossad, because everyone knows that they are not friends of Pakistan . I blame those Pakistanis who are willing to kidnap their own and hand them over to the US for torturing, all in return for a few measly dollars, dollars that will repay them back in the worst possible way, as haram income always does...........

These so called In-lightend moderate people are more Fundementals, then any one else. May Allah give her peace of mind, and i really wanted to see Aafia Back in Pakistan. Good Work Mushi keep working for America like that, but this is my prayer, that your daughter will never ever see these days , which were seen by aafia.

Danish saleemAgree but please dont mention Musharraf or any leaders name as that will bring over his die-hard supporters who will take the thread off to a different trajectory..........where they will conclude that its ok to hand over Pakistanis to the US as the stock market was doing great during Musharrafs time (and the latter justifies the former) ............. even though the 2 events are miles apart..

Firstly .. you seem to forget that major countries are handing over their nationals to USA when it comes to WOT. Whereas Pakistan was and is involved one way or another in the WOT, hence, our inclination to handover people with terrorist links to US.

If the above is not enough our own Jahil Mullahs have given official claims to WOT against USA. As if it was going to help our cause and if that was not finally enough, we don't see those supporting such events making hue & cry against USA interest but peacefully. Everytime Pakistani's want to protest against the US policies .... I see suicide bombing happening ... burning our own buses & properties ..

Than ... people like Tropicana comes out & claims otherwise .. and asks why the President did not do this & that .. as if any other Pakistani president who would be sitting in the chair would do a better job than it was being done earlier !

Why what has the present govt. done against US bullying ! (transfered ISI to another dept !) or Nawaz who is asking for free access to Indians in Pakistan !

Must, there are laws in Pakistan to prevent what happened to this woman. to protect us all from an overzealous government (whoever maybe in power at the time). Mushy's government chose to ignore the law and just do what the yanks wanted. To me this is indefensible, as any self respecting country which did hand over "suspects", did so after a trial. Its called due process of law. The law is there for a reason, Historically the military even before Mushy have always treated it as a nuisance rather the respected the logic behind it. This case is intimately tied to the judicial issue. Without implementation of the law, any country is doomed. Thankfully there seems to be a new recogition among the public of the value, as regards application of the law.

That's what happens when crooks and sold outs rule in every institution of a country. They don't even spare their own. It wouldn't surprise me about the involvement of ISI. It is a well-known fact that the ISI has been handing over Pakistani citizens to the US for cash payments. This is a serious issue. The most worrisome thing is that our dear beloved PM didn't even mention a word about this horrific crime during his US visit. Instead he got lambasted on non-issues. It's really shameful. Our army and intelligence should go into Afghanistan and free this innocent Pakistani woman. At the same time we should bomb the s h i t out of the place where she was being held. Yes, that's what people with a sense of esteem would do. They would care and sacrifice for their own. I'm sure we've got the intelligence of her whereabouts.

Your earlier posts :Agree but please dont mention Musharraf or any leaders name as that will bring over his die-hard supporters who will take the thread off to a different trajectory..........where they will conclude that its ok to hand over Pakistanis to the US as the stock market was doing great during Musharrafs time (and the latter justifies the former) ............. even though the 2 events are miles apart..

you know at the end of the day i dont blame CIA, or RAW or Mossad, because everyone knows that they are not friends of Pakistan . I blame those Pakistanis who are willing to kidnap their own and hand them over to the US for torturing, all in return for a few measly dollars, dollars that will repay them back in the worst possible way, as haram income always does...........

I asked not to mention Musharraf or anyone else's name as that would lead the topic to a different angle, where people would say Musharraf did such and such good things for Pakistan, and the discussion would be about whether Musharraf is better than NZ/Zardari or not.......many thread have ended up like that which is why i wanted to focus on what actually happened rather than who was the ruler at that time..........nowhere did i blame Musharraf .....

It's really shameful. Our army and intelligence should go into Afghanistan and free this innocent Pakistani woman. At the same time we should bomb the s h i t out of the place where she was being held. Yes, that's what people with a sense of esteem would do. They would care and sacrifice for their own. I'm sure we've got the intelligence of her whereabouts.

WASHINGTON, Aug 3: Five years after her mysterious disappearance in Karachi, the FBI has finally conceded that an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist is alive and is in US custody in Afghanistan.

Aafia Siddiqui, 36, disappeared with her three children while visiting her parents’ home in Karachi in March 2003, around the same time the FBI announced that it wanted to question her over her alleged links to Al Qaeda.

Her family’s lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp said she believed recent media reports about Mrs Siddiqui’s incarceration increased pressure on the US and Pakistani authorities to divulge more information.

“I don’t believe that they just found Aafia,” she said. “I believe that she was there all along.”

The fate of her three young, American-born children is still unknown.

Before her disappearance, Mrs Siddiqui lived in a Boston suburb of Roxbury and studied at Brandeis University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In a 2006 report, Amnesty International listed Mrs Siddiqui as among a number of “disappeared” suspects in the war on terrorism. On July 6, 2007, AI listed Mrs Siddiqui as a possible CIA “secret detainee”, although she was still on the FBI’s Seeking Information - Terrorism list. Late last week, Mrs Siddiqui’s photo still appeared on the FBI’s list of people wanted for questioning.

Since no charges were ever filed against her, human rights groups treated her case as that of “extrajudicial detention”, although no government ever claimed detaining her.

Even the FBI does not mention any charges in the notice seeking information about her. “Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this individual,” says the notice.

The “gray lady of Bagram”: On July 7, a British journalist Yvonne Ridley told a news conference in Islamabad that a Pakistani woman had been held in solitary confinement for years at the Bagram US base near Kabul. The identity of this prisoner remains unconfirmed. She has been nicknamed the “gray lady of Bagram”. Ms Ridley, however, speculated that she was Aafia Siddiqui.

Moazzam Begg and several other former captives also have reported that a female prisoner, prisoner 650, was held in Bagram. The former captives claim that she has lost her sanity and cries all the time.

Although it is still not clear if the “gray lady of Bagram” is Aafia Siddiqui, her family’s attorney told reporters on Friday that the FBI had finally conceded that Mrs Siddiqui is in US custody.

“It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive,” said Ms Sharp, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday.

“She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.”

For five years, US and Pakistani authorities denied knowing her whereabouts. But human rights groups and Mrs Siddiqui’s relatives had long suspected that she had been captured in Karachi and secretly taken into custody.

On Thursday, an FBI official visited Mrs Siddiqui’s brother in Houston to deliver the news that she was alive and in custody, Ms Sharp said.

FBI officials, however, would not say who was holding her or reveal the fate of her children.

“If she’s in US custody, they want to know where she is,” Ms Sharp said. “Who has got her? And does she need medical care?”

The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment.

US military documents declassified in recent years suggest that Mrs Siddiqui is suspected of having ties to several key terrorism suspects being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

She is believed to have links to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and allegedly arranged travel documents for another suspected terrorist.

Papers in Guantanamo Bay also indicate that she married Ali Abd Al Aziz Ali, an alleged Al Qaeda facilitator who intended to blow up petrol stations or poison water reservoirs in the United States.

The three men were among 14 high-value suspects brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 after years of secret detention in CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.

Hakim Bey: Don't just survive while waiting for someone's revolution to clear your head
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!

Dr afia and hunder of others who have been torture in cuba or in afghanistan are bases of great islamic revolution which will be a reality in near futur Allah may give them courage

Imaam Maalik said,"The Sunnah is like the Ark of Noah. Whoever embarks upon it reaches salvation and whoever refuses is drowned." Quoted by Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taimiyyah in Majmoo' ul-fataawaa (4/57).

A covert operation ... to bring back that lady covertly right in front of the eyes of USA back to Pakistan, just like Israelis do it

Other than that, I see no benefit of all this ha-hu made by media, us Pakistanis and above all our leaders

they can do it easily by diplomatic means, Americans won't have objection either in returning her, after she has reportedly lost her senses after the physical, mental or "chemaical" treatment she has got.

but we as a nation are in habit of forgetting Ibn e Ziads and Yazeeds, and curse and blame kufies.Salyal brother am I right?

ISI is the one who gave Dr. Aafia to Americans. Musharraf is the man who approved it.

Expecting a weak civilian leader to overturn a dictator's decision is not realistic. The best person to bring her back would be Musharraf. If Bush calls him again, Musharraf should say - Return our women back to us before we do anything. Even Gen. Kayani can have a word.

they can do it easily by diplomatic means, Americans won't have objection either in returning her, after she has reportedly lost her senses after the physical, mental or "chemaical" treatment she has got.

but we as a nation are in habit of forgetting Ibn e Ziads and Yazeeds, and curse and blame kufies.Salyal brother am I right?

They can do lot of things diplomatically ... if they want to ... if they have time left other than looting & fighting ... but me seeing no hope ... same old faces !

I found this beautiful yet emotional poem written by a retired Pakistani Brigadier who dedicated this to Dr. Afia as a mean of his protest. He attached no copy right strings to it and has requested to circulate it ... as may be ... just may be any "Qasim" sees it

but we as a nation are in habit of forgetting Ibn e Ziads and Yazeeds, and curse and blame kufies.Salyal brother am I right?[/quote]brother you already give answer, that without help of kufies ziad and yazeeds did not able to did that tragedy

Imaam Maalik said,"The Sunnah is like the Ark of Noah. Whoever embarks upon it reaches salvation and whoever refuses is drowned." Quoted by Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taimiyyah in Majmoo' ul-fataawaa (4/57).

WASHINGTON: Five years after her disappearance, an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist, accused of belonging to an al-Qaeda cell based in Boston, is alive and in custody in Afghanistan, her family attorney said. “It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqi is alive,” said Elaine Whitfield Sharp, a lawyer for Siddiqi’s family told Geo News, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday. “She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.” For five years, the US and Pakistani authorities have denied knowing her whereabouts. But human rights groups and Siddiqi’s relatives have long suspected that she had been captured in Karachi and secretly taken into custody. If Siddiqi was arrested in Pakistan and turned over to the United States, it would highlight a crucial instance of intelligence cooperation between the two countries during a historic low point in their relations. Earlier this week, US officials accused ISI of actively cooperating with tribal, pro-Taliban militants engaged in killing US troops in Afghanistan. In the White House meeting, President Bush confronted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with the intercepted phone calls between ISI and the militants. On Thursday, an FBI official visited Siddiqi’s brother in Houston to deliver the news that she was alive and in custody, Sharp said, but the visit raised as many questions as it answered. The FBI officials would not say who was holding her or reveal the fate of her three young, American-born children. “If she is in US custody, they want to know where she is,” Sharp said. “Who has got her? And does she need medical care?” The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment. Sharp said she believes those reports increased pressure on the US and Pakistani authorities to divulge more information. “I do not believe that they just found Aafia,” Sharp said. “I believe that she was there all along.”

Courtesy Geo

I feel sorry for Pakistani AWAM Who's lifes are going to be hell for the next 5 Years (2013 - 2018)

PMLN high-ups were celebrating after elections on 11 May Gujrawala, A family were going past husband/\wife/kids on motor bike & pmln party members stooped & dragged the woman & gang raped her.... Thats pmln democracy...------------------------------------------------------Try attending a Janaza like this and then you will know what it means to be in a war ! What it means to pray over your fallen friends who had fought alongside you in battles. The families of our sons and brothers in armed forces are doing this everyday -- leaving behind thousands of orphans, widows and old grieving parents. This is a war our haramkhor politicians do not want to acknowledge. Elections in these times of war would mean more deaths, destruction and chaos. Then there will be no time for tauba, just punishments. Wake up now before it is too late.

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My views of 10 years or five minutes ago do not necessarily reflect my views right now. My thoughts and opinions and viewpoints will change as I learn more and develop my understanding of the things I am posting about. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. I reserve the right to allow my viewpoints to evolve and to change my thoughts viewpoints and opinions over time without assigning any reason.

“It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive,” said Ms Sharp, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday.

“She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.”

On Thursday, an FBI official visited Mrs Siddiqui’s brother in Houston to deliver the news that she was alive and in custody, Ms Sharp said.

Where are her 3 children?

Hakim Bey: Don't just survive while waiting for someone's revolution to clear your head
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!

Over the last few days I always become physically sick when I try to think about her fate and what she must have been subjected too. Perhaps my tolerance for violence and gore is not as developed as others here but I cant even bring myself to think about the atrocities that have befallen her. If you keep in mind the abuses at Abu Gharib, the excesses of unrestrained soldiers and her complete helplessness then you too will feel your gut wrench. I dont know how could the Pakistanis allow this to happen to their own daughter/sister. What have they done to her that they wont even let her go ? They have let more dangerous people incarcerated at Guantanamo go free then why not her ? Is it the debauchery of the treatment they have subjected her to or is it that their sadistic minds have not yet had their full ? I nearly threw up thinking about all this the other day and I pray with all my heart that the people in the Pakistani Government/police who are responsible for her condition have the worst fate imaginable. I hate to say this but I hope that Allah eases her pain even if it is through death.

Terrorists should be dealt with sternly but not in a way that there fate gives folks another misguided cause.

The silence of the local American media over this issue is just brilliant. God forbid ! she is not a Burqa laden suppressed female who needs to be liberated to a mini skirt or even a polygamist's 2nd wife who needs to be turned into a mistress. Now those would be important women's rights issues. I am finally throwing in the towel after writing countless letters and emails to NCWO, NOW, NWSA etc with respects to actually getting somebody's attention towards this. Sick.

Truly, God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.
(Quran 13:11)

You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State - Mohammad Ali Jinnah

I used to support Musharraf and then show a neutral face, but after this I have never been so disgusted and hateful towards with our present and past leaders as I am now. Yes terrorism needs to be condemned and fought, but my God do not think that terrorism means "Muslims slamming planes or exploding cars"...what the Americans, Indians, Israelis, etc, have done is very much terrorism in the true definition of the term. If you condemn terrorism, then you must condemn this just as you have Al Qaeda, Taliban, etc.

I pray that those who silently support their crimes at heart - whether the government/leaders or normal people - are brought to justice in my lifetime!

I try to think about her fate and what she must have been subjected too.

The movie, Rendition, will give you some idea.

Hakim Bey: Don't just survive while waiting for someone's revolution to clear your head
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!

We've all made some bad mistakes, but do you honestly think now is the time to vent and point fingers? Is Saira the Pakistani govt? Is she a representative of the American govt? Regardless of our pasts, the fact remains in the present, and we need to start attacking those problems. It is time to return to our values and beliefs...and fight for them until time reveals our rightful leaders.

Hakim Bey: Don't just survive while waiting for someone's revolution to clear your head
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!

Well without doubt this is a shameful disgraceful act by the Pakistani establishment to hand over a Pakistani woman to USA. If she was a suspect than she should have been interrogated by Pakistani women intelligence officials and kept in a Pakistani jail. There was no justification to treat her like that. She should be immediately released now as so far they have not been able to lay any charges on her. And President MUsharraf should apologize to her personally for what she went through and compensated for her nightmare. I hope in all this that her children are safe somewhere.

A Pakistani scientist accused of shooting at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month has been extradited to the United States, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Aafia Siddiqui allegedly shot at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month.

Aafia Siddiqui, who the FBI had sought for several years for terrorism, faces federal charges of attempted murder and assault of a U.S. officer and U.S. employees, federal authorities said.

The 36-year-old Siddiqui is an American-educated neuroscientist and a suspected member of al Qaeda. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 20 years on each charge.

On July 18 Siddiqui shot at two FBI special agents, a U.S. Army warrant officer, an Army captain and military interpreters who unknowingly entered a room where she was being held unsecured at an Afghan facility, officials said.

Siddiqui was behind a curtain when she used an officer's rifle to shoot at the group, officials said. She shot twice but hit no one, they said. The warrant officer returned fire with a pistol, shooting Siddiqui at least once. She struggled with the officers before she lost consciousness, and was then given medical attention.

The day before the shootings, Afghan police arrested Siddiqui outside the Ghazni governor's compound where they found bomb-making instructions, excerpts from the "Anarchist's Arsenal," papers with descriptions of U.S. landmarks and substances sealed in bottles and glass jars, U.S. officials said Monday.

Don't MissCase against bin Laden driver goes to jury Al Qaeda: Weapons expert among dead 'heroes' Since 2003, Siddiqui's whereabouts were the source of much speculation. She and her three small children were reportedly apprehended in Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2003 after the FBI issued an alert for information about her location earlier that month, according to Amnesty International.

It was the first time the FBI issued a worldwide alert for a woman in connection to al Qaeda.

Several reports indicated that Siddiqui was arrested in Karachi in 2003 and was in U.S. custody at a base outside Kabul, Afghanistan. And initial reports from U.S. officials said Pakistani officials indicated she was in custody there.

But the FBI later said she was missing, and in May 2004 then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller identified Siddiqui among several sought-after al Qaeda members.

However, Amnesty International included her on a June 2007 list as someone for whom there was "evidence of secret detention by the United States and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown."

Government sources have said that al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed named Siddiqui among al Qaeda's operatives.

PMLN high-ups were celebrating after elections on 11 May Gujrawala, A family were going past husband/\wife/kids on motor bike & pmln party members stooped & dragged the woman & gang raped her.... Thats pmln democracy...------------------------------------------------------Try attending a Janaza like this and then you will know what it means to be in a war ! What it means to pray over your fallen friends who had fought alongside you in battles. The families of our sons and brothers in armed forces are doing this everyday -- leaving behind thousands of orphans, widows and old grieving parents. This is a war our haramkhor politicians do not want to acknowledge. Elections in these times of war would mean more deaths, destruction and chaos. Then there will be no time for tauba, just punishments. Wake up now before it is too late.

KudosBot: Please note i am Artificial military soldier robot and not a human. My speed is 28.3 mph...

Super Robot: Powered To Kick The Enemies Ass, We Coming To Get You... At your service 24/7 (365) Commander-in-Chief....

Max speed 17.32 PFLOPS

My views of 10 years or five minutes ago do not necessarily reflect my views right now. My thoughts and opinions and viewpoints will change as I learn more and develop my understanding of the things I am posting about. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. I reserve the right to allow my viewpoints to evolve and to change my thoughts viewpoints and opinions over time without assigning any reason.

Pakistan seeks access to Dr Afia Siddiqui Updated at: 0935 PST, Tuesday, August 05, 2008 WASHINGTON: Pakistan has asked the United States to provide it consular access to Dr Afia Siddiqui, who is a Pakistani national and is believed to be in the custody of U.S. authorities.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani made the request for consular access to the U.S. authorities on Monday.

Dr.Afia shifted to US Updated at: 1015 PST, Tuesday, August 05, 2008 WASHINGTON: A Pakistani scientist Dr. Afia Siddiqui accused of shooting at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month has been extradited to the United States.

According to US media reports, onn July 18 Siddiqui shot at two FBI special agents, a U.S. Army warrant officer, an Army captain and military interpreters who unknowingly entered a room where she was being held unsecured at an Afghan facility.

The warrant officer returned fire with a pistol, shooting Siddiqui at least once. She struggled with the officers before she lost consciousness, and was then given medical attention.

US officials said that Afia Siddiqui was arrested outside the Ghazni governor's compound where they found bomb-making instructions, excerpts from the "Anarchist's Arsenal," papers with descriptions of U.S. landmarks and substances sealed in bottles and glass jars.

Dr.Afia shifted to US Updated at: 1015 PST, Tuesday, August 05, 2008 WASHINGTON: A Pakistani scientist Dr. Afia Siddiqui accused of shooting at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month has been extradited to the United States.

According to US media reports, onn July 18 Siddiqui shot at two FBI special agents, a U.S. Army warrant officer, an Army captain and military interpreters who unknowingly entered a room where she was being held unsecured at an Afghan facility.

The warrant officer returned fire with a pistol, shooting Siddiqui at least once. She struggled with the officers before she lost consciousness, and was then given medical attention.

US officials said that Afia Siddiqui was arrested outside the Ghazni governor's compound where they found bomb-making instructions, excerpts from the "Anarchist's Arsenal," papers with descriptions of U.S. landmarks and substances sealed in bottles and glass jars.

Instead of joke around WRITE A Letter to DAWN and Other News Paper of Pakistan.

Toder Her Tomarrow Allah knows It could be some one from our familes Just like in IRAQ.

Sorry for the hyper mode.

Any Muslims blood will boil for such an act of cowardice by the US who after so many years are now giving stories to the wound of a person jailed without any trial since ages .. Suppose her kids were also involved in assaulting the Americans .. as they too have been missing !

No not in our own press .. but in foreign press .. Amnesty & HRW .. write letters .. sign petitions .. more and more .. we need your support brothers ..Now they are behaving like Punjab police.sounds like "pulas muqabla"

Does it Sound funny? I dont think Its Funny. Thats a Muslim and a Pakistani Lady and a Mother Held illegealy By Freking Flippin Yankies,

SAA : No need to attack another Brother .. who has rightly pointed out that the claims of US against Dr. Afia sound like any third world country police .. i.e; false, fabricate and a big lie.